Go-l Hollywood Review - Page 2

gs, I see where you're coming from. Absolutely no problems with it from where I'm sitting at, anyway. It's going to be tough for them to build a rep. I'm hoping they're legit and pull it off. I hate the thought that they could possibly be trolls with a degree in creative writing with a minor in HTML.

When will we get some Benchmarks? Does it really have Dual Channel?

Since the system received has TV-Tunen + Card Reader, Does it still have 3 USB?

Is that L logo fixed on? or Glue on?

Now if this doesn't have 3 USB ports or Dual channel memory will you still give them the same Scores you gave in your review? if yes WHY! they lied!

well i guess the free TV-Tuner + Card reader is good for the number of USB ports, but what about the dual channel memory.

Specs mention 2 USB ports, built in card reader, and tv tuner (w/ no bluetooth available if selected)

How would one even go about checking for dual-channel memory?

Sisoft Sandra, many of the system information programs. or just a sisoft memory benchmark score vs what the 5680/8890/4780 found on this forum. or any desktop dual channel motherboard will show.

if it scores in the 2000~3000s or in 4000~5000

Yeah, as we expected. Well of course the 4780 is very good, so naturally you're pleased with it, and it's very good that there are no dead pixels, but this too has nothing to do with the OEM... bad pixels are usually (if not always) the fault of the LCD manufacturer. Since you don't seem to mind waiting, I'd suggest sending it back, getting your money back, and ordering a cheaper unit from somewhere else. Since there is no better similar notebook than the one you have (unless you count the 8790), the only thing you've lost is wasted money... you can gain some back from ordering the unit from Sager or Hypersonic or wherever else you want, assuming the restocking fee doesn't hurt you too much.

EDIT: However the 4780 has 2 USB2.0 ports, not 1.1, so that's what you have... sometimes people have trouble getting them to work right, browse these forums for a solution.

EDIT: Of course you say they set up Windows nicely, and the partitioning sounds clever and useful, so maybe they weren't deliberately ripping you off and rather were simply too inexperienced or incompetent to put the actual system specs on the website. The specs for the 5680 ("Studio") appear to all be accurate, as far as I can tell. And they took down the configuration page for the Hollywood.

So the dual-channel memory claim WAS really false. That's unfortunate. Any company that markets their hardware falsely is either fraudulent, or poorly managing their marketing front. Hopefully it's the latter due to the fact that they're still a new player. Sorry to hear about that, but glad your satisfied with the other aspects of your laptop.

How's that one saying go? 'if it looks too good to be true, it probably is..'?

-n

Meddude - Im not going to gloat because I dont think there is reason for me to. I think it was brave of you to try them out and in any case - are you willing to try another experiment??

Basically - give them a call and ask about a refund. Tell them that you are not happy with the fact that they gave false information about the hardware. If they agree to send you a full refund - involve the law in the process this time because we are talking $3000.00 something?? Make sure you get a refund - you could end up sending back the laptop and not getting a cent from them...you may win in the end but it will be a long expensive and useless process...

Probably the best advice one can ever give or take. Easy to give, hard to take.

There are many variations, but they all come down to the fact that most scams succeed because people want more than they know is possible and they are gullible.

If it was me in MEDDUDE's shoes, I'd be bringing the wrath of god down on those people. At least whatever they believe is god. It takes a lot of damned gall to repeatedly and intentionally lie in pubic and private about something. What? They thought he wouldn't check things? After all the carping in these forums, how could he not check. And its not like he's an idiot or totally isolated from the laptop community. He could and he did run the benches, he checked the specs. How could they carry the bluff that far?

Well, MEDDUDE, you have the option of letting AMEX deal with them. I wouldn't keep the machine no matter how sweet it was. It simply encourages this type of operator to continue. Heck, I'd be considering criminal charges for false advertising and breach of contract. Since it was done over the internet and if you are not in California, it would be Federal charges.

Its one thing to simply not know any better, as in some seller on E-Bay that ended up with a laptop that someone made extraordinary claims about and they accepted and passed along. But "L" claims to be a sophisticated reseller/OEM that has made outrageous claims and statements, claims and statements they know to be false. Even when confronted with their falsehoods, they continue to try to bluff it out. They need to have their come-uppance. Real bad.

However, I have to say thanks to MEDDUDE. Thanks that he was willing and could take the risk to prove this out. Sorry its turned out much as was expected by the most of us. Though I expected that he might not even get a machine, I have to admit I was hoping it would all be true. I really wish there were some OEM out there blowing the doors off. If I had a spare $1M, I'd go for it myself. There's nothing like being out in front of everyone else, so far out there you can take the luxury of turning around and looking back at them all gasping in your dust.

That was what turned me on to SAGER 10 years ago. Everyone I knew then and asked about SAGER said it was just a fly-by-night scam that couldn't be true. That's one exception to the "If it looks to0 good to be ... ...." rule.

Unfortunately, that's not the case this time.

Yeah, their claim that they supported dual channel was the one thing that I doubted. Now that it has been proven that only single channel is supported, I feel that, while not a laptop scam company, they spend to much time glossing their website, and not enough time making sure they know what they are talking about.

As for gsferrari's claim of not saying anything until they have a large customer base, I don't think that is going to happen. With their systems priced so high, I don't see too many educated buyers throwing down that much cash in the near future. MEDDUDE is a rarity. These guys have been around since the fall, and I would venture to say that if they are still around by next xmas, max they are going to have 5 reviews on this website.

I disagree. The rule doesn't apply to Sagers/Clevos as they haven't, to the best of knowledge, misrepresented their products.

Whereas in the case of Liebermann Inc., I posted an observation a while back that they claimed to offer dual-channel memory operation on a SiS648FX chipset (a single-channel memory chipset). THAT's too good to be true.

-n

Agreed. You can get your money back from American Express and have them deal with Go-L, though you should definitely e-mail them telling them what you're doing and why. I'm leaning in the direction of them not being a scam per se, but merely being incompetent. They could get better -- indeed it sounded like their claims about the Windows XP tweaks they really did do? Please take more pictures or screen captures of anything interesting before you send it back... it'll probably be a while before we see another Go-L purchaser on these boards.

Oh, and add a review to ResellerRatings.

I was seriously hoping that Go-L would be a player and do this right, but if they're being this bold about things that aren't even close to true, that's not even close to being acceptable.

Meddude, even though you sound like you're fairly happy w/ your laptop, I'd still be SORELY upset over the fact that I did not receive the product that was advertised at the time of purchase. In fact, you might want to go take a screenshot of their webpage just in case they take it down if this gets involved anytime soon. I'd call and talk with them, explaining calmly, clearly and precising what the problem is that you are having with their "service."

If they aren't willing to offer (at the very minimum) a sizeable discount (if that's something you want), then I'd say it'd be time to talk to law enforcement and AMEX. If Circuit City or CompUSA tried this, they'd get their heads knocked in, so why should Go-L get to play by different rules?

Hard to say what they were thinking? Were they deliberately misleading people? Did they get their specs messed up because they don't know what they're doing? Hard to say.

Good luck in whatever you do. I wouldn't let it slide, though.

I have a stupid question....if Go-L installs Dual Channel ram into a Single Channel Motherboard...could it still work? Maybe it would work exactly the same as Single channel memory? Just a thought...

Brett

I mentioned earlier that the configuration form for the Hollywood was taken down. It's now back up, with the errors fixed. You can't choose not to get the media card or TV tuner, there's no mention of dual-channel memory, and it lists two USB ports. Certainly you should get your money back, but everyone should stay away from Go-L until they figure out how to run a company.

You are correct there, to the best of my knowledge, SAGER has never knowingly misrepresented their machines and when informed of a mistake, promptly corrected it, but this was 10 years ago, there weren't the benchmark programs, there were any forums, there was barely an internet as far as the general public was concerned. And while they never claimed stuff that was so outrageous at the time, their machines were out beyond anything else and their prices were way lower than anybody else's.

In any case, my point wasn't to the veracity of their claims, who knows, Go-L could have done those things, just banged stuff together as best they could. My point was that 99% of the time, that adage does apply and proves true. However, there's always the exception to the rule, an as in English, its the exceptions that validates the rule.

Sometimes those extreme fantasies are real. I'm just too old and crabby now to take the risks, so I applaud MEDDUDE for taking them for me.

[/quote]I mentioned earlier that the configuration form for the Hollywood was taken down. It's now back up, with the errors fixed. You can't choose not to get the media card or TV tuner, there's no mention of dual-channel memory. they clearly forgot to edit the dual-DDR on the front page. http://www.go-l.com/laptops/hollywoo...t_over_ani.gif

Very true. Although I may have been cynical and even hostile at times...he took a risk I wasnt willing to take and that probably made me jealous...

I hope he sorts out his problems soon.

Go-L doesn't know what they're doing. There are many other errors on their website that apparently they don't know know about because they don't do real R&D like they claim. The company is really a house of cards, and if enough people buy their products and realize that they're getting taken they could all get together and lay down a class action lawsuit. I would, without hesitation, recommend that you return that notebook for a full refund. You are probably not aware of the other mistakes they've made, but I'm sure we'll all hear about a few more as time goes on.

You should look at Voodoo if you want something on the high end, or Sager if you want a no frills good quality unit. Powernotebooks.com is a good place to buy Sager.

By the way, don't forget to visit www.resellerratings.com and warn others. Go-L apparently doesn't have any customers on there yet, because you're probably one of the first. Let's be honest, you paid for a system with Dual Channel DDR and other features that you didn't get. You should warn others because from what I understand there are also other specs that they claim that are just not possible.

This goes out to John Mulligan,

John, with all due respect, the company you work for may not be intentionally scamming people, however you are misrepresenting your products in a number of ways. You may not be aware of all your mistakes, and I'm certainly not getting paid to tell you what they are. When I buy a computer from a company I'll do my research first, and I guarantee you that it won't be from Go-L unless I plan to sue you afterwards for all the bull**** that plagues your site. Seriously, you guys should have thought about this before making all the bull**** claims you do. You won't last long in this business, word of mouth travels all too fast.